The Motorcycle Diaries

2004

US/Germany/UK/Peru/Argentina/Chile

2h 8min

15

Directed by: Walter Salles

Cast: Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo de la Serna

Language: Spanish, Quechua

Years before he became one of the leaders of the Cuban Revolution, Ernesto 'Ché' Guevara took a formative journey across Latin America on a rickety motorbike with his friend Alberto Granado. Inspired by Guevara's journal account, Brazilian director Walter Salles lovingly recreates this epic cross-continental trip, in a film that grows in stature as it progresses. Minus the iconic cap and beard, Mexican man-of-the-moment Bernal plays El Ché with a quiet assurance, while Rodrigo de la Serna is the perfect foil as the lusty Granado. A film that pays its respects without resorting to crass cliché.